Counter



`lune 10, 1958 c, DQM COUNTER Filed May 1o, 1955 UnitedStates Patent O COUNTER Charles Dom, Geneva, Switzerland Application May 10, 1955, Serial No. 507,437 Claims priority, application Switzerland July 1, 1954 3 Claims. (Cl. 23S-114) The present invention has for its object a counter incorporating a mechanism including a notched wheel controlled stepwise by a pusher member and associated with transfer and setting back means. Said counter distinguishes from conventional counters by the fact that the mechanism is housed inside a casing presenting 'outwardly the shape of the case of a wrist watch, the upper surface of which is provided with apertures which allow seeing figures carried by rotary counting members while the pusher member and at least one setting back control member extend each through one of two opposite side walls of said casing.

Accompanying drawing illustrates diagrammatically and by way of exempliication a preferred embodiment of this counter. In said drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front view of the counter.

Fig. 2 is a view of the counter after removal of the cover of the casing.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view through line III- III of Fig. 5.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view through line IV-IV of Fig. 5.

Fig. S is a sectional view through line V-V of Fig. 2.

As illustrated, the counter includes a mechanism which is entirely housed inside a casing 1. The latter assumes the outer shape of a case for a wrist watch and includes two small cross-bars 2 to which are secured the corresponding ends 3 and 4 of a wrist band. The casing 1 is provided however with a cover 5 in which are cut two apertures 6 which let figures appear carried by rotary counting members 7 and 8.

The counter illustrated includes a counting member 7 for the unit and another counting member 8 for the tens. Each counting member is freely rotatable on a spindle 9 and carries the figures O to 9 which are equally I distributed along its periphery.

The counting member 7 is rigidly fastened to an actuating member 11 constituted by a disc provided with a radial projection 10. The latter cooperates with a driven member 12 rigidly fastened to said second counting member 8 which is constituted by a toothed wheel.

Each spindle 9 carries still a notched wheel 13 or 14 rigidly fastened respectively to the corresponding disc 11 and to the wheel 12. Each notched wheel is provided with ten teeth which are equally distributed along its periphery for cooperation each with two retaining pawls 15 and 16. Said pawls are pivotally secured each to a spindle 17 and are submitted each to the action of a spring 18 which urges them into engagement with the corresponding notched wheel 13 or 14.

Through the side wall 19 of the casing, there extends a pusher knob 24 tted over a guide 20 (Fig. 2) constituted by a rod, one of the ends of which engages a bore in the actual knob while its other end is guided inside a groove formed in the opposite side wall 21 of the casing. A return spring 22 engages said wall 21 and acts on the pusher knob so as to hold it in its inoperative position illustrated on Fig. l.

2,838,239 Patented June 10, 1958 dce The pusher knob carries a guiding member 23 the shape of which is substantially that of a U, the anges of which slide over the inner surfaces of the front and rear walls 5 and 25 of the casing (Fig. 5). The medial section 26 of this U-shaped member 23 forms a stop cooperating with the inner surface of the side-wall 19 of the casing so as to define the inoperative position of the pusher knob. This guiding member 23 also carries an elastic actuating projection 27 cooperating with the teeth of the notched wheel 13 carried by the spindle 8.

The mechanism of the counter also includes setting back to zero means including two rotary control members 2S and 29 extending through the side-wall 21. Each control member revolves freely inside a bearing 30 rigidly connected to the inner surface of said wall 21 and carries two diametrically opposed driving projections 31, cooperating with the notched wheels respectively 13 and 14. Lastly a lock constituted by a spring blade 32 cooperating with the projections 31 urges the latter into their inoperative positions, as illustrated on Fig. 4 for those projections which are carried by the control member 28.y

The operation of the above described counter is as follows:

When the operator pushes the pusher member 24 inwardly in the direction of the arrow f, the actuating control projection 27 carried along with the pusher member, acts on one of the teeth of the notched wheel 13 carried by the spindle 9 carrying the unit-counting system. This unit-counting system is thus shifted angularly through the interval between two teeth of the wheel 13 so that the pawl 15 engages the next tooth. The angular shifting of the notched wheel shifts through one unit the counting member 7 so that the figure appearing now inside the right hand aperture d is that immediately following the precedingly apparent gure.

When the ligure 9 appears through this right hand aperture, the radial projection 10 enters the position in which it is about to engage a tooth on wheel 12. If the operator causes now the counting member 7 to progress by one further unit by actuation of the pusher knob 24, the zero ligure appears in the right hand aperture 6 and the projection 10 on the disc member 11 cooperates with a tooth on the wheel 12 associated with the member counting the tens so as to make the last mentioned member progress through one unit interval. The parts are then in the position shown in Fig. 3. Consequently the gure 1 appears now in the left-hand aperture 6.

It is possible to return separately to zero each of the counting members 7 and 8 through actuation of the corresponding control members 28 and 29 in the direction of the arrows r and t (Fig. l). As a matter of fact, during each half revolution of a control member, one of the projections 31 carried by the latter engages the notched Wheel in the corresponding counting system so that it produces an angular shifting through one unit of said counting member rigid with said notched wheel. In its inoperative position, which is the position illustrated for the right hand control member on Fig. 4, the projections 31 are held by the spring 32 in a plane perpendicular to the corresponding spindle 9 and are kept thus away from the notches in the wheel 13 or 14.

As illustrated in the drawing, the apertures 6 are preferably located across the plane of symmetry a of the casing which is perpendicular to the axis of the pusher knob 24 and are arranged symmetrically with reference to the plane of symmetry b passing through said axis of the pusher knob 24.

The counting instrument described has an aesthetic appearance and its handling is very easy and convenient.

U/ 1t is of particular advantage for golf players and sportsmen.

A preferred embodiment of the invention has thus been described by way of exemplification, reference being made to appended drawing, but obviously many modifications may be imagined within the scope of accompanying claims without unduly widening the scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A counting instrument comprising a casing, an upper cover for said casing and having apertures therein, rst and second rotary counting members, gures carried by said rotary members and appearing in succession in said apertures, a lirst notched wheel rigidly connected to said lirst rotary counting member, a pusher member actuating step by step said rst notched wheel, a tens transfer mechanism comprising a `finger rigidly connected to said first rotary counting member, a second notched wheel rigidly connected to said second rotary counting member, lirst and second resetting to zero members, bearings iri which said two members revolve freely, two radially extending driving ngers carried by each of said resetting to Zero members, said two driving fingers being located in adiametral plane of said resetting to zero member, said lingers of said first and second resetting to zero members cooperating successively with each toothV of said iirst and second notched wheels, a blade spring acting on said two resetting to zero members and maintaining each of said two members in angular rest posi- "4 A tions in which said fingers are out of the path of the teeth of said rst and second notched wheels, and in which said casing presentsthe shape of a wrist watch casing.

2. A counting instrument according to claim l and comprising a rod-shaped member, said pusher member sliding longitudinally along said rod-shaped member, a guiding member carried by said pusher member and sliding along the inner surfaces of the upper and lower walls of said casing.

3. A counting instrument according to claim 2 and comprising an elastic projection carried by said pusher member and cooperating with the notched wheel rigidly fastened to the rotary member counting the units.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Nelson Mar. 22, 

